Influence of Equal Channel Angular Pressing and Cyclic Extrusion Compression on the Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Pure Aluminum

The influence of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and cyclic extrusion compression (CEC) of Al-1080 on the pressing load, microstructure, and tensile properties was investigated. The pressing peak loads of the CEC were 218.8–265.4% higher than those of the ECAP, with a more complex load behavior in the CEC process. The deformation morphology of the ECAP samples indicates an improvement in the deformation homogeneity with the number of passes. Shear band morphology with a decrease in the shear band width from the center to the outer surface makes up the predominant pattern of the CEC samples. The ECAP samples have 13.9–44% smaller average grain sizes, with 3.8–8.1% higher high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) than the CECed samples. The ECAP and CEC processing improve the tensile strength. However, the ECAP sample’s tensile strength (UTS) and the proof strength (σ0.2) were 11.5–20.6 and 2.6–16.4% higher than that of CEC, without noticeable differences in elongation. The σ0.2 values were predicted accurately with a deviation range of 1.8–7.3% from the experimental one. The ECAP samples are easy to process under lower loads. Moreover, ECAP samples have an equiaxed grain microstructure with a higher degree of deformation homogeneity and tensile strength.